Egg bound? Egg broke in hen? Yolk peritonitis? Or something else?!

[My Bock-Bocks]

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
Rosie is an easter egger, approx 6 months old who has been laying for 6 weeks. She is bigger than our other EE
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Very lethargic, slow-moving, tail down, not eating/drinking. She ate some yesterday, but today she is not eating/drinking at all
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
2 days
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
no
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
no
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
She did not lay on Friday but was in the nest box. Saturday mid-morning, my husband found an egg shell under where the girls roost for the night. We thought they had eaten the egg. She seemed a little off that afternoon but it has been so hot. Sunday a.m. she was laying on the ground, walking slowly, not foraging and another girl picked at her. Rosie is top hen.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
scrambled eggs, only 2 bites today. water with ACV and honey, tums
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc
watery yellow with firmer dark poop mixed in and not a lot of it. I will attach picture.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
I brought her in the house Sunday a.m. I did not feel an egg or any shells in her cloaca. I flushed it with cool saline solution anyway. I have given her crushed tums and inj. Pen G roughly .25 cc. She had a warm soak this a.m.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I am treating myself. I couldn't get her to a vet until tomorrow anyway beacuse of the holiday. I do not know who might see chickens in my area.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Pine shavings.

This is my first post. I have been treating Rosie as if she had been egg bound and the egg broke in her and she passed it on her own. I have read many helpful threads here. I would love to hear from others if you think my diagnosis sounds reasonable and if you would be doing anything differently. Besides the broken egg, she has not layed since Thursday. We had crushed limestone, not oyster shell. Looks like that was a mistake. It does not look good for Rosie today. Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[My Bock-Bocks]

Rosie has shown some improvement. She has been drinking water on her own and has now started eating! Feeling optimistic!

 

[My Bock-Bocks]

Anyone?

She looks so sad. I bathed her this morning and cleaned her bottom. I have been dribbling water on her beak to get some fluids in her. She did take a few drinks on her own. She isn't eating and has lost weight. She just wants to sleep in the cat carrier. I don't know what else to do for her.

 

[chickcrack]

Hi there. I'm far from an expert on this but didn't want you to feel ignored. I would say that top poop pic looks like egg in it. How far apart were those poop pics taken? Was the shell that hubby found a regular broken shell or a rubbery one? I think it's possible she may have infection if an egg broke inside her that would require an antibiotic. Hopefully someone with more knowledge can chime in on what would be appropriate. Have you tried her with some scrambled eggs or moistened chicken food?

 

[My Bock-Bocks]

chickcrack, thank you for your reply! The first picture was Sunday morning and the second picture was Monday. Hubby thinks the shell was normal but isn't sure. He just picked it up and threw it without really giving it much thought. He didn't remember to tell me until the afternoon. She ate scrambled eggs and moistened crumble yesterday afternoon but not today. I tried oatmeal today too. She picked at it but didn't eat it.

 

[chickcrack]

Poor girl. I have found broken rubber eggshells a couple of times under the roost bar but they usually have eaten the contents before I got there. I did have a little Bantam not long ago with a broken rubber egg stuck inside her but she got lucky and had no ill effects afterwards. At least Monday's poop seems to look better than Sundays. Does her vent seem to continuously pucker as tho she has the sensation that she needs to lay an egg? Does her abdomen feel large and squishy? (Sign of internal laying or perhaps a reproductive tumor) I'm sorry I'm not more help to you. Just trying to ask any questions in the hope that someone with more experience will read and have some suggestions!

 

[My Bock-Bocks]

Her vent does pucker, I didn't know that was related to egg-laying! Her abdomen feels neither hard or squishy to me. She feels altogether smaller though. I haven't checked her vent today because yesterday I was preety sure I was going into her colon. I will check now.

 

[My Bock-Bocks]

Nothing new to report. She is about the same. She seems worse in the morning and then by the end of the day she seems much improved. Then the next morning she looks awful again. I wonder if she is internally laying? But she isn't swelling anywhere.
Should I try a different antibiotic?

 

[chickcrack]

Sorry to hear she still isn't well. Just a thought...I had a girl once that had a tumor confirmed by vet that caused her to first lay several tiny eggs and soft shelled eggs and then stop laying altogether. She was about 5-6 months old when symptoms started. As the tumor grew she had a difficult time perching and mornings I would find her stumbling. I brought her inside and decided to watch for a day or two to decide if I needed to help end her suffering and I put her in a dog crate and gave her a couple of pillows as she seemed uncomfortable. Well low and behold she improved. As soon as she went out to the coop she would go down hill again. I ultimately built her a separation cage in the coop and gave her those pillows covered with old towels. She slept on them for another 6 months before it became clear that her quality of life was not good and we helped her along. I wonder if your girl seems worse in the morning because she is in pain while perching. Their instinct to perch is so strong that if they are at all able to they will. Just a thought.

 

[My Bock-Bocks]

She was set up with a cat carrier with pine shavings in my bathtub so she wasn't perching. She slept in her make-shift nest box. Still could be a tumor somewhere.

She is still not well, but I have taken her out to get re-aquainted with the "flock". Only 3 girls and Rosie is still the boss! She is definitely happier outside and her tail was in a normal position! But she didn't look like she was actually eating very much, just scratching and picking at things. She is on the perch tonight with the other girls but I think I may bring her in. If she is weak in the morning, Pepper will be after her.

Her poop is still watery with undigested seed (that she hasn't had access to since last weekend). Maybe she has something else like clostridium, but I don't find it smells unusual. She also looks a little gray in her comb. Even her beak looks paler.

I'll let you know how she does. Thanks for your help!!